New housing development — for cats — to be built in South Kearny

KEARNY— As the town plans for yet more new apartments on the east and west sides of town, another new development is quietly being planned — for cats.

Volunteers have received permission from the town’s elected officials to build houses for a colony of feral felines in South Kearny, home to Kearny’s largest cat colony.

Len Twist, who heads up Kearny’s volunteer TNR (trap, neuter, release) program, said he hopes to build at least a dozen shelters for the cats on Stern Avenue, a town-owned property officials have referred to as a “paper road.”

The shelters will be 24 inches square and will be raised on pallets 18 inches high to protect the cats from the cold ground in the winter. Twist also intends to install feeding stations at the site to keep birds from getting to the food.